Idris Elba to voice Shere Khan

Idris Elba is set to voice Shere Khan in the upcoming Jungle Book film.

The Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom actor is in final negotiations about lending his voice to the tiger in Disney's live-action/computer-generated hybrid movie, reported Deadline.

There are currently two versions of the Jungle Book in the pipeline, and Idris is in talks about the film being directed by Jon Favreau.

Filmmaker Ron Howard has been linked to the other Jungle Book project.

Disney previously turned the story of Mowgli, the young boy raised by wolves, into an animated movie in 1967 and there have been plenty of other adaptations of the tales including a string of live-action films in the 90s.

The Raven writer Justin Marks has been hired to pen the script of the new adaptation of Rudyard Kipling's classic tales.